He smiled as he came through the door with the clothes Rebecca had loaned him earlier. They were folded in a neat pile as he offered them to the blonde. "I had them washed." He offered with a quirk of his brow.
"You must have had them on for what two hours?"
"More like three, but I had to inspect camp and they got a little dirty."
"So did you." She crinkled her nose just a bit to indicate the odor coming from the officer. "Good thing I happen to like the smell of horse. However, after supper you are getting another bath. In the meantime at least wash your hands and arms."
"Yes Ma’am. Should I eat on the porch?"
"No, just stay down wind. What did you do, Colonel, set up the stables?"
He laughed as he washed his hands at the pump at the sink. "No, I just lent a hand where it was needed. Lots of work to prepare a camp."
"I would imagine. You seem to do it very well."
"I have been doing it since I was fifteen. I am thirty-four now. I have lots of experience." He took a cloth from the sink and dried his hands. "I know all the little tricks."
Rebecca gestured to his uniform as she finished setting the table. "You know all kinds of tricks."
"Un-huh."
"So you have been living life as a man for nineteen years?"
"Just about that, yes."
"And you have never been discovered?"
"Not yet." He sighed hard as he moved to the table to hold Rebecca’s chair for her. "I am very convincing."
"Is that so?" Rebecca smiled as her chair moved toward the table. "You mean to tell me that you can sit here through dinner and make me believe I am having supper with a gentleman."
"Well now, you are a little different because you do know, but yes I am confident. I think I could make you believe it."
"Try."
"What?"
"Try, Colonel Redmond. Try to make me believe it."
"Miss Rebecca, this is silly."
"Play the game, Colonel Redmond."
"All right, Miss Rebecca, all right."
As she settled down across the table from Rebecca, the blonde smiled. She was not sure Charlie could do it. He could see it in her face and he quirked a brow in challenge.
And so the evening began.
Their conversation ranged over many topics, from gracious comments on the land, to authors they had both read and enjoyed. Rebecca stayed away from the obvious questions of how did a Charlestonian end up in the Northern army and even more obvious, how did a girl become a colonel, a career officer in the Army. Charlie skillfully created a mood of cultured peace, of two people enjoying a time of quiet, thoughtful companionship. It was a taste of the elegance and culture that Rebecca had once enjoyed and lost with the war.
Supper was a delightful experience. For one night, Rebecca forgot the empty larder, the lost friends and family, the empty stables of her family’s once spectacular horse-breeding program. By the time the simple dessert of fresh fruit and real coffee, brought as a house gift by this enigmatic guest, was over she realized that Charlie was holding her hand, lightly brushing his……her thumb over the back of it.
"You win." Rebecca smiled from behind her coffee cup.
"Excuse me?"
"You win, you had me convinced. You win."
He smiled. "Years of practice."
Rebecca looked down and noticed that Charlie had not released her hand and that she had not moved her own.
Very gently, with a courtesy that Rebecca thought had died on that terrible day when the Army of Virginia mobilized, Charlie bowed, and raising her hand, gently caressed it with his lips. "Thank you for an evening of civilization in a very uncivilized time."
After supper, Rebecca prepared another bath. This time she provided a nightshirt and robe that belonged to her brother. As Charlie bathed and relaxed, she turned down the bed and retrieved a spare blanket and pillow from the cabinet. She was just about to slip a nightgown over her head when she heard Charlie clear her throat. She let it drop over her head and shoulders, falling to the floor around her body before turning around. "Ready for a soft bed?"
"Ah, you have no idea."
Rebecca picked up the pillow and blanket, heading for the door. "Enjoy it, Colonel. You have earned it."
"Miss Rebecca, is this your bed?"
"Yes."
"Oh." Then, very gently, "I will not take you from your bed. Give me those. A davenport is far better than an army cot."
"No, Colonel, it is all right."
"No, it is not. Now come on, Miss Rebecca, be reasonable."
"You do not know much about southern women do you, Colonel Redmond? We have been called many things. Reasonable is not generally among them."
His laughter rang over Rebecca’s head at that last comment. "Darlin’ Miss Rebecca, I know quite a bit about southern woman. And they are eminently reasonable when they want to be. Now, I will not take your bed."
"Well then, it will go unused this night!"
He growled a little as he tightened the belt of the robe and ran his hand through his hair. "Tell you what, it is a big bed. We can share it."
"Hmm…… how do I know this is not a ploy on your part to get me in a position so you can take advantage of me, Colonel Redmond?" Rebecca said.
All the blood drained from his face as he took a step back. "Miss Rebecca, I……I……I would not……I……."
"Colonel, I was teasing. Of course, we can share the bed. You are right. It is a big bed. Now come on in here and get into it."
"Maybe I should take the davenport." His voice seemed to be struggling to get out of his throat, a barely vocal squeak instead of his normally rich, low voice. He seems to sag against the door jam.
"Nonsense. Now come on." Rebecca gave his arm a little tug and pulled him inside, closing the door behind him.
"Miss Rebecca, you do not understand." Charlie swallowed hard, almost afraid to make the admission. He released a deep breath, gathering his courage. The worst that would happen is that she would order him from her home. "One of the reasons I play the role so well is because……because……." He dropped his head then lifted it again. "Because I prefer the company of women."
"Then come to bed, because I assure you, Colonel Redmond, I am the only woman within five hundred miles willing to share her bed with you."
"Miss Rebecca? Surely you do not……you have not……." Charlie’s eyes grew wide.
Rebecca had never seen such a confused combination of emotions in one human being before. Hope, fear, longing, an aching loneliness, shame…… all of them and much more crossed Charlie’s face in that moment.
"Colonel Redmond, I offered to share my bed. I asked for your protection because I believe you are a person of unquestionable honor. Therefore, your preferences in companionship are your own business. Now come to bed."
The blonde watched as this strange combination of man and woman before her removed the robe and climbed into the bed. "Umm, do you prefer the right or the left?" Charlie asked before settling in.
"Actually, I have been sleeping alone for so long I have pretty much taken to sleeping in the middle of the bed so you pick a side and I will try to stay on my own." She nodded as she settled down on the right side of the bed. Rebecca joined her from the left side and she had to laugh. "Colonel Redmond, it is all right. You do not have to sleep on the very edge of the bed."
"I want you to have plenty of room, Miss Rebecca."
"And I want you to enjoy sleeping in a big bed and you cannot do that on the very edge, holding on to keep from falling off." She reached out and took Charlie by the shoulder, pulling her back into the bed.
As Charlie rolled over on her back, their faces were only an inch apart. Her eyes were still the most amazing thing Rebecca had ever seen and those lips seemed to have a power all their own. Slowly Rebecca licked her lips as they watched each other. "Charlie," I wonder if I sound as breathless as I feel. "I……unh……I……"